Semiconductor devices are electrical components that utilize semiconductor material, such as silicon, germanium, gallium arsenide, and the like. Semiconductor devices are typically manufactured as single discrete devices or as integrated circuits (ICs). Examples of single discrete devices include electrically-actuatable elements such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs), diodes, transistors, resistors, capacitors, fuses, etc.
The fabrication of semiconductor devices typically involves an intricate manufacturing process with a myriad of steps. The end-product of the fabrication is a “packaged” semiconductor device. The “packaged” modifier refers to the enclosure and protective features built into the final product as well as the interface that enables the device in the package to be incorporated into a product circuit.
The conventional fabrication process for semiconductor devices starts with handling a semiconductor wafer. The wafer is diced into a multitude of “unpackaged” semiconductor devices. The “unpackaged” modifier refers to an unenclosed semiconductor device without protective features. Herein, unpackaged semiconductor devices may be called semiconductor device dies, or just “dies” for simplicity. A single semiconductor wafer may be diced to create dies of various sizes, so as to form upwards of more than 100,000 or even 1,000,000 dies from the semiconductor wafer (depending on the starting size of the semiconductor), and each die has a certain quality. The unpackaged dies are then “packaged” via a conventional fabrication process discussed briefly below. The actions between the wafer handling and the packaging may be referred to as “die preparation.”
In some instances, the die preparation may include sorting the dies via a “pick and place process,” whereby diced dies are individually picked up and sorted into bins. The sorting may be based on the forward voltage capacity of the die, the average power of the die, and/or the wavelength of the die.
Typically, the packaging involves mounting a die onto a plastic or ceramic package (e.g., mold or enclosure). Packaging may also include connecting the die contacts to pins/wires for interfacing/interconnecting with product circuitry. The packaging of the semiconductor device is typically completed by sealing the die to protect it from the environment (e.g., dust).
After packaging, a product manufacturer then places packaged semiconductor devices in product circuitry. Due to the packaging, the devices are ready to be “plugged in” to the circuit assembly of the product being manufactured. Additionally, while the packaging of the devices protects them from elements that might degrade or destroy the devices, the packaged devices are inherently larger (e.g., in some cases, around 10 times the thickness and 10 times the area, resulting in 100 times the volume) than the die found inside the package. Thus, the resulting circuit assembly cannot be any thinner than the packaging of the semiconductor devices.
When mounting an unpackaged die onto product circuitry, significant forces may be exerted on the body of the unpackaged die. Due to the properties and characteristics of unpackaged dies or the package being used, these exerted forces may cause damage to the unpackaged die being transferred, the circuit substrate, and/or contacts (circuit trace) electrically linking the unpackaged dies. Such damage may ultimately lead to failure of the product.